travel to conference

[Catherine Rudin]

Since it was me who complained about airfare, I thought I'd give a more upbeat update.  
The fares that had mysteriously gone through the roof a week or so ago have now just as
mysteriously dropped, and there are now quite reasonable flights available to all 3
airports.  (Less than half the price of last week - go figure.)  
I'll be arriving in Springfield about 2:00 on Thursday and will have a rental car - in
case anyone needs a ride.

Many thanks to the generous folks who offered rides from the west.  Much appreciated
even though now unneeded.

On another topic, I don't think anyone's responded regarding the conference fee that
Jill asked about (below).  $10-$12 seems more than reasonable.  If it's a hardship for
anyone maybe us rich professor types could kick in a little extra to cover them  ;-) 

Catherine

>>> "Jill Greer" <Greer-J at MSSU.EDU> 04/28/08 11:50 AM >>>
Hi, all,

Actually,  I'm sorry to say that it will entail renting a car from any of the airports,
unless one wants to brave a Greyhound type bus.  The Fayetteville airport is a little
over an hour from Joplin, Springfield's airport is slightly less (and does not require
any complicated navigation - just get on I-44 west, and go straight to Joplin which is
about 45-50 minutes without stopping).  

Tulsa is about one hour and 20 minutes from Joplin, and the best road is the Will Rogers
Turnpike (the same highway as I-44, but with tolls added on.)

I do apologize for the costs -  I warned folks that there is no cheap way to get here by
air, and of course driving isn't cheap anymore either.  If there were enough people
coming in to the same airport at the same time, perhaps I could arrange a university van
as a shuttle, for a small fee per person.  

That also raises the issue of registration costs.  The only cost to me will be any food 
that we provide, so I was hoping to keep it minimal, like $10-12 per person?  Is that in
line with past years???